Technical Abstract:
Good progress is being made on genetics and genomics of sugar beet, however it is in process and the tools are now being generated and some results are being analyzed. The GABI BeetSeq project released a first draft of the sugar beet genome of KWS2320, a dihaploid (see http://bvseq.molgen.mpg.de/Genome/start.genome.shtml). Finally assembly remains to be accomplished as well as the prediction annotation of gene sequences. The available scaffold is being used to assemble other genomes from unique and valuable ARS germplasm releases. A number of transcriptomes are available, including those of germinating seedlings. Some of these resources are being used to develop thousands of SNP molecular markers for genetic analyses, as well identify genes expressed under different conditions of germination.